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Alittle Advice on Sore Nipples and Burning

My baby is 17 days old and we were doing great but about 2 days ago, my left breast and nipple became very sore, my nipple looked ok, but it sure did hurt and when my milk came down it burns and today when she latched on, I felt like I was going to pass out. So today I started pumping for the first time and that was ok and didn't hurt to pump (just alittle sore) and she took to the bottle. But I am concerned that it is an infection, not just sore nipples. Now my right side is getting sore. Any suggestions, should I see my doctor???
Thanks

Re: Alittle Advice on Sore Nipples and Burning

Canadian mom and breastmilk fan.
We have 2 beautiful children: Luana who's 9 y/o, had breastmilk for 2 years and is smart as a whip. Lucas who came out kickin', is 4 y/o and continues to enjoy his milkies.

Re: Alittle Advice on Sore Nipples and Burning

It could be thrush. The point is you're in pain. See your doctor and be persistent until you get relief. It took me 5 visits to my GP, ob, and finally the nurse-midwife until I was correctly diagnosed with the diagnosis I thought I had all along: thrush and Raynaud's phenomena of the nipple.

Only the nurse-midwife knew that Raynaud's could affect nipples. I've had Raynaud's since adolescence but never bothered to mention in my pregnancy work-up. Now that it's subzero temperatures again, it's back. If I double up on sweaters or in acute cases take a hot shower then the pain goes away. The Pediatrics article notes diagnostic criteria:

We report 12 women who breastfed 14 infants... All women suffered from extremely painful breastfeeding, with symptoms precipitated by cold temperatures and associated with blanching of the nipple followed by cyanosis and/or erythema. Poor positioning and poor attachment or latch may cause blanching of the nipple and pain during breastfeeding, but 10 of the 12 mothers were evaluated by experienced lactation consultations, who were sure that inappropriate breastfeeding techniques were not contributing factors.

Because the breast pain associated with Raynaud’s phenomenon is so severe and throbbing, it is often mistaken for Candida albicans infection. It is not unusual for mothers who have Raynaud’s phenomenon of the nipple to be treated inappropriately and often repeatedly for C albicans infections with topical or systemic antifungal agents. Eight of our 12 mothers and their infants received multiple courses of antifungal therapy without relief before the diagnosis was made.

To diagnose Raynaud’s phenomenon accurately, additional symptoms such as precipitation by cold stimulus, occurrence of symptoms during pregnancy or when not breastfeeding, and biphasic or triphasic color changes must be present. All our mothers experienced precipitation of symptoms by cold stimuli and demonstrated biphasic or triphasic color changes, and 6 of the 12 experienced symptoms during pregnancy.

Katharine Be the change you want to see in the world--Mahatma Gandhi mid-August DD (2010) & DS (2011 VBAC)
Ouch! Is it thrush or Raynaud's phenomenon?